Making an early start on Sunday 4th December, the Penrith under 13 squad travelled to the north-east for a match against Sunderland. With no previous experience of playing this team the strength of the opposition was unknown but a look at their results so far this season showed that Penrith would have to be on top form to get a good result.

The game got off to the worse start possible for the visitors as Sunderland scored immediately, taking advantage of the fact that Penrith were taking a while to get going after the long journey. The Penrith team did not allow this setback to unsettle them, however, and got themselves back into the match with some good effort which saw them advance towards the opposition try-line through several phases of play. Eventually, David Whittle got the opportunity to pick up the ball from the base of a solid scrum and ran in the first Penrith try which was converted by Patrick Noutch. Sunderland responded with strong play of their own and they got themselves ahead again through another converted try. With several players playing in unfamiliar positions the Penrith team did well to prevent Sunderland from stretching their lead and came back themselves with David Whittle again scoring and Patrick Noutch kicking the conversion. With a pattern of scoring emerging, it was Sunderland who scored the next converted try but good handling amongst the Penrith players saw Patrick Noutch able to dart in to score below the posts and Myles Harrop converted, to end the half with Penrith just ahead at 21-19.

Rotating their large squad to give everyone a run-out the second half saw the Penrith team begin to exert more pressure upon their hosts. Excellent interplay between backs and forwards resulted in Euan Gillespie beating the home defence to score in the corner to extend the Penrith lead. A further try by David Whittle showing his strength and pace moved them even further clear before the home team hit back with a try of their own. As the game entered the final minutes Penrith put together numerous good phases of play and a flowing move with swift passing to players running at excellent angles moved them close to the Sunderland try-line. Following an infringement by Sunderland, Liam Trevaskis took a quick tap-penalty and powered over the try line to finish the game with a flourish for the visiting team making the final score 36-24 in favour of Penrith.

Penrith under 13’s put in a very good team performance with the whole squad playing their part, with many players performing well in new positions against a team with some strong runners amongst their numbers that provided a tough challenge.

The Penrith squad consisted of: Patrick Bennett, Lewis Birkbeck, Thomas Broadhead, Greg Cameron, Adam Cutting, Jake Edmondson, Euan Gillespie, Thomas Graves, Nathan Hamilton, Myles Harrop, John Hartley, Ellis Hook, Adam Howe, Jack Huddart, Matthew McFadden, Will Melling, Patrick Noutch, Alex Pantechis, Freddie Pritchard, Kyle Ryder, Keegan Shaw, Joseph Tidmarsh, Liam Trevaskis, Fergus Vecqueray, Lewis Watt, David Whittle.